Sour Sins
by Kiwisilence
Summary: In exchange for the Enchiridion, the Lich offers Lemongrab the power to take over the Candy Kingdom and get revenge on Bubblegum. Eventual Lich/Lemongrab slash.


The characters will be a little OOC, but since the pairing is obviously crack-tastic (but dark), it could be written any other way. Lemongrab/the Lich will happen later in the story. This story will not involve the second Lemongrab. I totally understand if you think the pairing is gross/flesh-rotting (let's be honest).

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Chapter 1: Soured Silence

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Silence hung over Castle Lemongrab.

The only comfort the Earl would ever receive was the all-consuming silence around him. It was the closest thing he had to a mother: only it muffled his cries and screams. Only silence could he speak to, not judging him for his hard, jaundiced appearance or his shrill voice. In the dark corners of his Castle, he was beautiful, but those thoughts were fleeting. His loneliness was a constant reminded of a mother who had rejected him, trapping her son away from the world.

The very air outside the Castle was too fair and honey-sweet for him.

Lemongrab was a failed experiment, more monster than candy-man, who needed the darkness and silence of his Castle as a crutch. If he dared venture away from its safety, he would surely be rejected again like his own mother had done. He had none of Bubblegum's beauty, as if she had taken her hidden, worst traits and made Lemongrab out of them.

"Mother," Lemongrab garbled out, ashamed of the very sound his voice made. It sounded atonal: a broken violin ripped of its strings and grated across the ground. No poet would ever write of its beauty. His voice was an instrument of terror, almost a weapon of war. Not even the ugliest, most disease-ridden bird could make a shriek to rival the Earl's voice.

The Earl looked down at the mashed together candy creation in his hand, molded from the pantry's stores. The candy was crudely formed into an effigy of his mother, Princess Bubblegum. Just as Lemongrab was flawed, even his creation was a broken candy monster that more resembled a humble of glass shards than the sweet candy he had used. Monsters like the Earl could never create beauty.

"Unacceptable," the Earl tried forcing his voice into a whisper, but it still cut the air like a razor. "Thirty days in the dungeon isn't enough for you, mother. You made me the Earl...the Earl of nothing."

Once again, silence greeted his words. The lemon-man almost wondered how far away the nearest person was. Even the rare bird that flocked to this dead realm wouldn't care for Lemongrab's cries.

"I want my own Kingdom," Lemongrab tightened his hold on his candy-effigy, watching cracks ripple under his hand.

"That can be arranged," a dead, almost choked whisper came from behind Lemongrab, instantly frightening the Earl. He wasn't prepared for a fight, for his sound sword was tucked away in his room.

"WHO-" Before Lemongrab could finish, the stranger grasped his mouth, silencing his terrified yell.

"Silence..."

The rest of the stranger came into figure, stepping into the light of the dimly lit pantry. Lemongrab hadn't seen another person since the days of his creation, but he sensed something disturbingly wrong with the figure.

Whereas even his hated mother looked sweet and cheerful, the stranger wasn't even a candy-person. Not even Lemongrab considered himself to look as ugly and defiled as the monster before him, which was strangely comforting. The Earl had never felt so handsome, but those thoughts quickly dissolved into fear. Lemongrab had read enough stories of monsters to know how his story would end tonight.

"Beauty doesn't last, sour child. Don't scream or I will break your lemon drop head."

The stranger's hold relaxed, leaving Lemongrab momentarily speechless. He rapidly blinked, trying to calm down his nerves and his ever-souring lemon-heart.

"Repeat what you were saying before, Lemongrab..." It hissed. The monster knew his name, but there was no way Bubblegum would ever have told anyone that the Earl even existed. The Earl was her greatest shame.

"What?" The Earl whimpered.

"You want your own Kingdom." The monster sounded almost comforting.

"I...I'm stuck here, locked away from decent candy-folk." Lemongrab's forced his voice to sound more relaxed, masking his fear. If he had any hope of living, he needed to bargain and be deceitful.

"Why be decent and 'beautiful'?" The stranger pushed its mouth to Lemongrab's ear, burying the very air in its dry, husky voice. "You can rule through fear and get revenge on the very person who chained you here."

Although the Earl would like nothing better than to destroy his creator, he still longed for friendship. The only beauty the Castle had offered was in its books, which installed a longing in the lemon-man for companionship. The Earl couldn't speak to himself forever, for he already felt his mind fracturing. He needed a friend, desperately clinging to that idea. Only because Bubblegum had spurned him so violently had he quashed his hopes of earning her love, turning those feelings into a newfound, empowering sense of hatred.

"I can give you the Candy Kingdom and destroy your beloved mother," the monster grinned, exposing the yellowed teeth under its rotting flesh.

"What do you want?"

"All I want is a book, Lemongrab. I could do anything with that book, make you live forever even..."

"There are many books in this Castle," Lemongrab didn't know how to respond. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, his inner hatred was blossoming, poisoning what little had been left of his kindness. Now, the Earl had easily slipped under fear of the creature into accepting whatever was offered to him. Whoever was before him couldn't be tricked.

"When you sit on your throne, sour child, an army of candy-people and my magic will be at your disposal. You will get this book for me. It is not here."

"Why would you help me?"

"I want Bubblegum and her hero Finn erased from this world. You should understand my hatred."

"I can't say no, can I?"

"I'm giving you the gift of free-will," the stranger chided. "Watch..."

With that, the monster focused his telepathy, forcing Lemongrab's arm to contort like a rag-doll. Pain surged throughout his arm, boiling in intensity.

"STOP! Please!" Lemongrab roared, sinking to the floor. Despite the pain, the Earl didn't make an attempt to run. He cradled his arm, still reeling in the aftereffects.

"Is that a yes?"

Lemongrab looked up, pleading to the monster. He could never be a hero.

"Yes...but what is your name?"

The monster's grin widened even further, its skin stretching and tearing at the sides of its mouth. "I am the Lich, and you will be the King of the Candy Kingdom."

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AN: Anyways, the Lich's appearance will slightly change as the story progresses if I'm going to have any hope of making the pairing less squicky (or maybe that's what you want. Thoughts?)


End file.
